Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 430 Shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,276 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Equifax were worth $580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equifax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new position in Equifax during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Equifax by 98.7% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 151 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in Equifax during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Equifax during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EFX. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Equifax from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus downgraded shares of Equifax from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Equifax from $320.00 to $316.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on Equifax from $335.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Equifax from $286.00 to $279.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $298.56.

Equifax Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE EFX opened at $240.37 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $251.43 and its 200-day moving average is $263.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.77, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65. Equifax Inc. has a one year low of $213.02 and a one year high of $309.63.

Equifax (NYSE:EFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 19.13%. Equities research analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

Equifax Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.39 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Equifax’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Equifax Company Profile

Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.